Sam Allardyce is closing in on his first January signing after the Bayern Munich defender Jan Kirchhoff arrived in the north-east for a medical.

The 25-year-old headed for Sunderland after being left out of the Bayern squad who flew to Qatar for a mid-season training camp on Wednesday.

Bayern said: “The travelling party does not include Jan Kirchhoff, who is away with his agent concluding negotiations for a possible transfer.”

Kirchhoff appears to be surplus to requirements in Munich after spending last season on loan with their Bundesliga rivals Schalke, with injuries having limited his involvement at the Allianz Arena.

He has made just 10 appearances for the club in the two and a half years since he signed from Mainz, all of them as a substitute and just one this season in the 1-0 German Cup victory over Darmstadt last month.

Allardyce’s concentration on defenders – he has also been heavily linked with Lorient’s Lamine Koné – is understandable with Younès Kaboul’s hamstring injury set to sideline him into February, an absence which has prompted the 36-year-old Wes Brown’s return to the team for the last two games.

The captain John O’Shea is also approaching the end of his career at 34 and whatever role the senior pair have to play during the remainder of the current campaign, they will need to be replaced sooner rather than later.

Sunderland have conceded 39 goals in their 20 Premier League games this season and scored just 22, and their failings at both ends of the pitch have left them in 19th place, four points shy of safety.

Allardyce has traditionally built from the back and while getting the best out of his strikers is also a focus, he is convinced that clean sheets will provide the foundation for yet another survival bid.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have been credited with an interest in the Italy striker Ciro Immobile, currently on loan at Sevilla from Borussia Dortmund.